Restaurant Haerlin in Hamburg: Christoph Rüffer treads carefully on the road to modernisation

At the Grand Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, chef de cuisine Christoph Rüffer constructs subtle, finely balanced flavour combinations in Restaurant Haerlin, which was awarded two Michelin stars in November 2011.

In recent years, the grand old Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg is where Essen-born Christoph Rüffer has been honing his style and developing his own interpretation of classic-based modern cuisine. Rüffer constructs his plates with great precision, contextualising every texture to perfection and allowing the flavours to develop in exciting and unexpected ways. He painstakingly spins concentric circles of flavour around the focal point of a dish, often working with acidic accents and adding surprising little nuances which are the hallmark of his cuisine. His dishes shine the spotlight on the interaction of flavours rather than the excellent ingredients.